Regardless of the particular level of teaching or practice that we are
discussing in the Buddhist tradition, whether it be Hinayana, Mahayana or
Vajrayana, the process of spiritual development is one of the student relying
upon a teacher. We may call that teacher a lama, a guru, or whatever, but the
essential point is that there is an oral transmission that takes place in which
a teacher teaches the student: the student listens to the teachings, absorbs
their meaning and puts them into practice.

There is a reason for this emphasis on an oral transmission. From the time of
the Buddha up to the present day, the buddha dharma has always been transmitted
and meant to be transmitted orally, ensuring that there is a living tradition
that is still embued with the blessing and power of the original teachings. It
also guards against the possibility of so-called teachers simply coming up with
their own ideas. Instead, the teacher passes on a proven tradition of teachings.
This makes the buddha dharma different from other kinds of learning where it may
be possible for people to innovate. In such realms of learning it may be
appropriate to come up with new systems of thought or to introduce new ideas.
But when we are talking about the buddha dharma, every teaching must connect
with the original teachings of the Buddha in order for a teaching to be valid.
The teachings cannot be something that someone is simply coming up with on their
own. The teachings are something that the teacher passes on.

Similarly, in other types of human knowledge it may be permissible to present
information in a manner as entertaining and pleasing as possible. But although
it is important for dharma teachings to be presented in a manner which is
pleasant to hear, it is most important that the transmitted teachings have the
power to bless and influence those who hear them in a positive way - not only in
this lifetime, but in future lifetimes as well. So even though the teaching of
the dharma should be elegant and well-presented, what is most important is the
blessing of the essential message.

Qualities of the Lama

The teachings we know of as Buddhism were first taught by the Buddha Sakyamuni.
These teachings have been maintained by a lineage of living transmission up to
the present day by those who have been inspired to follow the example of the
Buddha and to study that path and transmit it to others. In any of the various
Buddhist traditions we find that there are countless numbers of people who
through their study and contemplation have become extremely learned and gifted
with spiritual power and realization. But the reason why they teach and the
reason why these individuals undertake to become learned in the dharma should
not be to indulge in self-aggrandizement. One does not become learned in dharma
in order to think of oneself as learned and to gain some special status. One
does not teach others from a sense of personal pride, either. Dharma is
maintained because it brings benefit to those who hear the teachings. That is
the motivation behind teaching.

In order to become an authentic teacher of the tradition, it is not sufficient
to simply read enough books to become very clever at the teachings and then set
oneself up as a teacher. Rather, it is the case that one's own teacher, a
particularly realized individual, must give one permission to teach. It may also
be the case that one will be graced with a vision of one's chosen deity during
which experience the deity will confer upon one the blessing and authority to
teach.

So it isn't simply a question of ordinary people developing enough cleverness to
be able to talk well about the dharma. The true benefit of the teachings doesn't
come about through an ordinary approach, because that more ordinary approach
tends only to feed one's own pride and conflicting emotions. No benefit that can
come out of that. It is only when the teaching is a selfless gesture to benefit
others based upon an authentic transmission that we really have the benefit that
is necessary for the dharma to be maintained.

If we take into account all of the teachings of the Buddha, including all of the
commentaries on those teachings by the great mahasiddhas - the learned pundits
of the Indian, Tibetan and other traditions of Buddhism - it would be impossible
for a single individual to try and put all of that into practice। This does not
mean that there is any aspect of those teachings that are useless and have no
function. The Buddha Sakyamuni turned the wheel of the dharma in three
successive transmissions during his time in the world. In vajrayana when we
consider the thousands of volumes that collectively known as the buddha dharma,
including the 84,000 collections of the Buddha's teachings and the 6,400,000
texts of tantra, it is obvious that no single person could absorb and practice
all of that.

Examining the Teacher

So this brings us to the topic of guru yoga. Let us look at the etymology of the
word 'lama' in Tibetan. The first syllable 'la' means 'that which is
unsurpassable.' The second word 'ma' literally means mother. This means that the
attitude of the teacher is like that of a mother towards her children. There is
the implication that the relationship with the lama carries with it a great deal
of weight. There is also tremendous potential for the student to benefit from
that relationship.

This is why in the secret mantra path of the vajrayana teachings, it is
emphasized that from the outset it is important for the teacher and student to
examine one another. There must be a critical process whereby each one chooses
the other. For example, it is said in the tantras, if a lama is acquisitive,
ambitious, subject to conflicting emotions, full of pride, jealousy or
competitiveness, then it is not appropriate for a student to rely on such a
teacher regardless of who that lama may be. The lama must have the right kinds
of qualifications, including the quality of compassion. If the teacher does not
have these basic qualities, then it will be very difficult for such a lama to
grant blessing to the student in the way that is necessary for the lama/student
relationship to be effective.

In examining a lama's qualities it may be difficult for an ordinary person to
appreciate the qualities of that lama's mind stream, especially at first meeting
that teacher. But one crucial factor to be considered is the lineage that the
lama holds and whether that lineage has been maintained with pure samaya.
One cannot determine simply from a teacher's degree of learning whether they
have the kind of spiritual power that can transmit true blessing. If the
teacher's mind stream is not moved by an altruistic and compassionate quality -
the quality of Bodhicitta - but rather is one of pride and afflictive emotions,
then there is not going to be a beneficial relationship even if that teacher is
very learned. This is because the motivation of the teacher is not a proper one.
So initially it is important for the student to examine a prospective teacher.
Once the student has come to the decision to rely upon a given teacher, there is
no more discussion. The decision has been made. At that point it is important
for the student to rely wholeheartedly on the teacher. If one has gone through
the examination process of checking the teacher's qualities and determining that
this teacher is appropriate for oneself, then one will be able to maintain a
respect and a trust in the teacher.

Provided that the student then maintains an attitude of faith and devotion
towards a lama chosen in this way, there is no student that will not receive the
blessings of the Buddha directly in this living lineage. This is quite
infallible.

The Story of the Shepherd-Lama

In Tibet there was a family of nomadic herdsmen. They raised and sold animals
for a living. They were in no way knowledgable about the dharma. Their work was
of an essentially worldly nature.

One of the shepherds hired by this family would be given food when he took the
herds out every day. He would go to the bank of a river, let the herds graze and
sit down at midday to make tea and have his lunch. Where he was sitting, there
was a rock outcropping. Every day he would take the leftovers of food and tea
and put them on the rock. He was not motivated by any consideration that this
was either a good or bad thing to do. It was simply an idle habit he had of
placing leftovers on the rock.

This particular rock outcropping had three surfaces on which he used to put the
food. As it happened, these rocks were inhabited by certain local spirits. One
of these was a naga spirit, one was a mara spirit and the other was of a class
known as the tsen spirits. These three non-human spirits were very appreciative
of these "offerings" that this seemingly spiritual person and accomplished
practitioner was giving them on a daily basis. They discussed among themselves:
"One of us, at least, should do something out of gratitude. Who shall it be?"
And as they talked among themselves it was decided that the mara spirit would be
the one to help the shepherd. And so the mara spirit entered into the body of
the shepherd which caused him to undergo a complete transformation. He actually
became a very erudite and clever person.

When he returned home from the fields, he was a changed man. Instead of just
coming home as usual, he came home and began talking about dharma he began
teaching. Over time he came to have thousands of students. He was so impressive
as a spiritual teacher that he gathered a huge retinue of students around him.
He also wrote many books. He gained a wide reputation for being very learned in
the dharma. This continued over many years and his fame continued to grow.
He was continuing these activities when another lama who was traveling in the
area heard about him. Due to the visiting lama's authentic psychic powers, he
was aware of the fact that the shepherd-lama was not someone who really had
genuine qualities. He realized that the shepherd-lama's teaching ability had
been imparted by the possession of a mara spirit.

And so the visiting lama said to one of his attendant monks: "I want you to take
this incense down to where this other lama is teaching and I want you to burn it
and waft the smoke through the area so that the lama and all of the students
smell the smoke. Can you do that for me?"

The monk said "No problem," and he took the incense down and burned it. He went
through the crowd of thousands of people who were listening to this shepherd
turned teacher. As soon as the shepherd smelled the smoke, the mara spirit left
his body. The poor shepherd sitting on his throne looked around at the great
crowd of people and said "Where are my sheep?"

The point of the story is that even though a teacher may be clever, famous and
capable of speaking about the dharma, that does not determine authenticity. You
need to examine clearly what it is you are looking for in a teacher.
When you have gone through this examination process as a student and have come
to the decision that you want to rely upon a given teacher, then you have no
problem relating to that teacher straightforwardly with a sense of faith and
pure view. Then, when you take teachings from that teacher, you are completely
receptive to what that teacher has to offer.

Relying on the Teacher

Some of the most important questions you should ask yourself are: Does this
teacher have the experience of becoming free of suffering and delusion to be
able to impart that kind of freedom to me? Is this teacher motivated by
Bodhicitta or not? Is this teacher truly compassionate in his or her concern for
me as a student? This is something we find in all of the teachings of the
sutras, of the tantras and particularly in the mind teachings of the mahamudra
and great perfection schools: It is extremely important to examine the qualities
of a lama to determine his or her before relying on that teacher.

The whole point of the examination process is not to critically judge a teacher
in some public forum or in an abstract sense. Instead, it is to evaluate the
teacher from a very personal level to determine whether or not that relationship
with that teacher will be beneficial for you as a student. Does this teacher
have qualities and teachings to offer that you, in receiving those teachings,
can benefit from? It is entirely from your own point of view and not from some
conceptual perspective.

Relying upon a teacher is absolutely crucial in order for the student to purely
receive the transmission of the teachings. This is particularly true in the case
of the Great Perfection ("Dzogchen")teachings. You can only receive the pure
transmission of the Great Perfection ("Dzogchen")from a living teacher. There is
no source of transmission other than that of working with an authentic teacher.
And again, it is important that the lama or lamas upon whom you rely not be
individuals who are motivated by selfish desires for personal gain; that they
not be in any way tricky or deceitful people; that the way they speak the
teachings not be contradictory or counterproductive; that they not be proud of
their own qualities and constantly talking about or demonstrating their
qualities in a competitive or self-aggrandizing manner. Any and all of these
types of qualities in a teacher are to be avoided.

On the other hand, when you encounter a lama or teacher who has a very noble
character, who has excellent qualities, who is skilled and insightful concerning
the practice of the Buddhist teachings in general and the Vajrayana path in
particular, whose mind stream is motivated by Bodhicitta, who is extremely
loving and compassionate in his or her concern for others, and who has him or
herself realized the fundamental nature of phenomena in a very authentic and
direct manner, when we meet someone who embodies all of these qualities, then we
have the ideal case of someone upon whom you should rely as a teacher. This
person meets all of the qualifications of a good and authentic teacher.
Therefore, when we speak of someone who is truly a lama, we are not simply
speaking of someone who has the title or who is some general or ordinary sense
considered a lama. Only when we speak of someone who really has these authentic
qualities are we truly speaking of a qualified and authentic lama, i.e. someone
upon whom it will only be beneficial for you to rely. Your practice and your
experience in the dharma will only grow as result of a connection with someone
who is truly worthy of the title "lama."

When the student's attitude toward his or her lama is one of such faith and
devotion that the student really sees the teacher as an actual Buddha, or as the
very emodiment of the dharmakaya Vajradhara, or as the very embodiment of the
student's yidam - when the student has that kind of complete trust and faith,
without any doubt, without hesitation - then the blessings and qualities of the
enlightened form, speech and mind of all buddhas and bodhisattvas are
transmitted through the lama to the student.

There are also cases in which one encounters a lama with whom one has a
connection over many lifetimes. The kind of indication you will have of this is
that simply hearing the name of the teacher is an arresting experience for you:
every hair on your body stands on end. It is something which happens quite
automatically and is not a contrived experience.

When it is a certainty in your mind that this is truly the Buddha, this is truly
the dharmakaya Vajradhara, or that this is truly Guru Rinpoche that you are
encountering and relying upon in your lama, and when you pray with that
certainty in your mind, then you definitely receive the blessings from that
connection. But this also implies that you, as a student, guard your own
attitudes towards the teacher and ensure that you are always respectful and
receptive to what the teacher is saying. Do not give in to your own ordinary
habits of pride or self-aggrandizement or in any way undermine the relationship
with the teacher by contradicting what the teacher says or by attempt to thwart
the teacher's efforts. Any and all of these attitudes are to be avoided since
they do not support the trusting and open relationship that is necessary for the
blessings to flow from the teacher to the student.

In the tantras it is stated again and again the importance of relying upon the
lama as the source of blessings in one's practice. Regardless of the particular
prayer that the student offers to the lama, regardless of how small or seemingly
insignificant it may be, if it is based upon the student's complete trust and
faith in the lama, then the blessings of the lama are always accessible to the
student. In theTantra of the Ocean of Timeless Awareness, it states that it is
far better to recite one small prayer to one's lama out of pure faith and
devotion than it is to perform hundreds of millions of recitations of deity
mantras. The effect of prayer is far more powerful when it is truly an
expression of one's own faith and devotion in one's lama.

When one has established a connection with one's lama based upon trust, faith
and devotion, there are different ways of relying upon that relationship through
which various kinds of accomplishment can come about. If a student intends to
attain the most sublime accomplishment of enlightenment itself, the student
identifies the lama with Vajradhara - the dharmakaya buddha. If the student is
particularly motivated to develop deeper wisdom, the student identifies the lama
with Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. In order to encourage his or her own
love and compassion, the student meditates upon the lama as inseparable from
Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. To gain greater spiritual power
the student focuses upon the lama as inseparable from Vajrapani, the bodhisattva
of spiritual power. To overcome various kinds of fear and anxiety one relies
upon the lama as the very embodiment of the venerable Tara. To promote one's own
longevity one meditates upon the lama inseparable from Amitayus. To overcome
illness and disease one meditates upon the lama as the Medicine Buddha. To
promote one's own wealth and prosperity one meditates upon the lama as
inseparable from Vaishravana, Jambhala, or any of the wealth deities. To purify
the effects of harmful actions and to purify obscurations of one's body, speech
and mind, one meditates upon the lama as inseparable from the deity Vajrasattva.
To increase one's own personal glory, wealth and opportunity, one meditates upon
the lama as inseparable from the Buddha Ratnasambhava, the buddha of the jewel
family. To increase one's power - one's ability to exercise a powerful and
beneficial influence over the world - one meditates upon the lama as inseparable
from Amitabha or a deity such as Kurukulla. If one wishes to enact wrathful
activity, one meditates upon the lama as inseparable from Vajrabhairava or any
of the more wrathful yidams. If one wishes to adopt the approach that combines
all of these qualities in a single form, one meditates upon one's lama as
inseparable from Guru Rinpoche. In each of these cases, one's attitude is that
of one's own root lama being the very embodiment of one or another of these
aspects of enlightened being.

The Great Master Padmasambhava

The universal approach which subsumes all of these aspects is meditation upon
one's lama as the very embodiment of Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche should not be
thought of in this case as simply an historical figure, i.e. as an individual
who appeared after the Buddha Sakyamuni in our particular time and space. The
actual essence of Guru Rinpoche predates the Buddha Sakyamuni by eons. The
enlightened mind stream that is the enlightened mind stream of Guru Rinpoche is
the single expression of the innate compassion, blessings and wisdom of
countless buddhas from countless eons in the past all focusing in this single
mind stream that is the mind stream of the great master Guru Rinpoche.

If we think of the buddha dharma as being divisible into the teachings of the
sutras and the tantras, the teachings that we know of today as Buddhism are
those which were spoken and taught by the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. In the
greater sense, however, the teachings of the buddha dharma, and particularly the
teachings of the secret mantra path are not limited to the expression of that
single buddha. This is where the activity of Guru Rinpoche is considered to be
so universal and so far reaching. Wherever the Vajrayana teachings have been
given by any buddha in the past, or are being given or ever will be given,
wherever a spiritual teacher is transmitting those teachings, the essence of
Guru Rinpoche is embodied there - in that buddha, in that teacher, in that lama.
In different realms, in different universes, under different names, in different
forms, the manifestations of Guru Rinpoche have appeared and continue to appear
in countless numbers. There are any number of accounts in the traditional
literature that attest to this manifold display of Guru Rinpoche's activity.

In our particular time and space - as we experience the legacy of Buddha
Sakyamuni as one of the one thousand buddhas who will appear during this age in
which we live - all of these thousand buddhas and all the activity of these
thousand buddhas including the Buddha Sakyamuni are all manifestations from a
single source. They are all different aspects of activity that derives from a
single source of blessing and a single source of transmission. Throughout this
enormous universe and this vast expanse of time, all of the hundreds of millions
of manifestations of buddhas and teachers that appear are manifestations of Guru
Rinpoche's energy. Therefore, the expression of Guru Rinpoche's blessings cannot
be limited to a single time frame and a single region such as India or Tibet.

The accounts of Guru Rinpoche's miraculous birth in India and his journey to
Tibet to bring the teachings there are simply one small aspect of the blessing
and activity that is the totality of Guru Rinpoche. Even the accounts of Guru
Rinpoche's life that we have do not speak of a single figure, but of eight
manifestations of Guru Rinpoche by way of expressing the enormous scope of Guru
Rinpoche's blessing and activity. This blessing and activity continues to
manifest in all of the great teachers and masters who are emanations of Guru
Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche has not died. Guru Rinpoche has not passed away. Guru
Rinpoche continues to demonstrate this miraculous activity for the benefit of
beings now and on into the future.

None of this teaching contradicts any of the teachings that were transmitted by
the Buddha Sakyamuni. The third turning of the wheel by the Buddha was the wheel
of teachings concerning the definitive nature of reality and it is in this
turning of the wheel that the basis of the Vajrayana teachings is found.
However, in our particular time and space, it is Guru Rinpoche who was most
instrumental in developing and presenting these teachings of the Vajrayana.

In our ordinary perceptions what we perceive to be the phenomenon of the Buddha
Sakyamuni was someone who was born as a prince in what was then the north of
India, the son of King Shudodena and Queen Mayadevi. He grew up and attained
enlightenment, turned the wheel of the dharma, passed into nirvana with his
remains being cremated leaving relics that are still with us to this day.

The essence of Guru Rinpoche is birthless and deathless. It is not something
that we can limit to an entity that came into being at one point and passed out
of existence at another point in time. Guru Rinpoche's body is not a body of
flesh and blood. Guru Rinpoche's presence is not based upon any physical basis.
It is ever present. It always has been and always will be, because it is not
subject to the limitations of any corporeal form. There are many occasions upon
which kings and ministers in India would attempt to assassinate Guru Rinpoche.
In one instance his body was committed to flames. An ordinary person would have
been killed instantly, but Guru Rinpoche was never physically harmed in any way
because his embodiment was not of an ordinary nature.

When Guru Rinpoche came to the Land of Snows and the king of Tibet prostrated to
him, the king bowed and touched his head to what he thought was the knee of Guru
Rinpoche seated in front of him. However, his head passed through Guru
Rinpoche's body and touched the carpet underneath. When Guru Rinpoche departed
from Tibet to the realm of the cannibal demons, he didn't die in any ordinary
way, passing from his body. He actually left the land of Tibet in a miraculous
fashion - something that was witnessed by everybody present on that occasion.
However, I have heard that in the West there are people who are in the business
of selling relics of Guru Rinpoche! There are said to be hairs, for example,
from the head of Guru Rinpoche. There is one case of a terma revealed by Jatsön
Nyingpo which is referred to as a hair of Guru Rinpoche, but it is more like a
filament of rainbow light - there isn't really any hair there.

To meditate upon one's root lama as the very embodiment of the essence and
blessings of Guru Rinpoche means that any practice you undertake of any deity,
or any activity that you intend to enact in your practice - be it pacifying,
enriching, magnetizing, or wrathful - in any and all of these ways your practice
will be successful and fruitful. If you pray to your lama as inseparable from
Guru Rinpoche with your mind full of faith and devotion, Guru Rinpoche is never
separate from you.

When it comes to deity practice, we may find judgments arising in our mind
saying, for example, that this deity is better that this deity, or this deity is
more powerful than another deity, or this blessing comes more quickly with this
deity. These types of ordinary thoughts are not really appropriate when we are
dealing with something of this nature. The only qualifying factor is the devoted
interest and faith in the student's mind. It may be that under certain
circumstances, your faith is stronger in a given deity and therefore that deity
practice is more effective for you. But that does not mean that at a more
ultimate level there is any distinction to made between these various aspects of
enlightened being. They all arise from the single vast expanse of timeless
awareness as equally authentic manifestations of blessing and power. There is no
hierarchy, so to speak, among the deities. It is not the case that some are more
powerful than others, or some more blessed than others, or some more productive
of benefits than others. It is rather a question of the degree to which you as a
practitioner are motivated in a given direction.

If you are concerned about the degree to which you are receiving blessings from
your deity or from your practice, it would be far more useful to examine the
degree to which you yourself are developing faith and devotion toward that yidam
and toward your practice. The more our minds entertain doubt and anything other
than a truly firm and lucid faith in our practice, that much are we confusing
ourselves. We obscure our own minds with that doubt, vacillation and lack of
certainty and trust. It is on that level that we can say there is no blessing in
the practice. Not because the deity has no blessing. Not because the lama has no
blessing. But because the student is closed to that blessing by his or her doubt
and confusion.

The Practice of Guru Yoga

The actual way in which you carry out the meditation of guru yoga is to
visualize yourself in the form of a deity, in this case the feminine deity
Vajrayogini. Meditate that in the space above your head, about a cubit in length
above your crown (it would be about the length of your forearm), there is a seat
formed of three lotuses, one above the other - a white, red and dark blue lotus.
Resting upon this threefold lotus seat, you visualize the flat disk of the full
moon. Above this you meditate the form of Guru Rinpoche, considering him to be
the quintessence of all of the blessings of all buddhas and bodhisattvas united
in this single form. Even though the manifestation of Guru Rinpoche's form takes
on a certain appearance with specific posture, gestures, ornaments and garments,
his essence is inseparable from the essence of your root lama. Praying with this
conviction is the basis for guru yoga practice.

The particular form of Guru Rinpoche is white in color with a reddish tinge. He
has one face and two hands and his expression is described as semi-wrathful in
the sense that it is basically a peaceful expression with a just a slight hint
of wrath - not an overtly wrathful expression. The form of Guru Rinpoche is
marked with the 32 major and 80 minor marks of physical perfection so that there
is nothing about the form that is any way displeasing, disproportionate, lacking
or unsatisfactory to the mind of one who beholds such a form. The hair of the
figure of Guru Rinpoche is flowing over his shoulders and back. On his head Guru
Rinpoche wears the lotus crown that confers liberation upon all who behold it.

The form of Guru Rinpoche is wearing a rich cloak that is referred to as the
Cloak of the King of Sawok. The origin of this cloak refers back to a particular
event when Guru Rinpoche was staying in the area now known as Tso Pema to the
Tibetans or Rewalsar in India. The king of that region offered his cloak to Guru
Rinpoche. In recognition of this worldly king offering the symbol of his majesty
of Guru Rinpoche, the form of Guru Rinpoche is clad in this outer cloak.
Additionally, Guru Rinpoche wears a formal monastic robe emblematic of the
Hinayana disciplines. He is adorned with jeweled ornaments such as earrings,
necklace, bracelets and anklets. The right hand holds a five prong vajra to his
heart center. The left hand is in his lap in the gesture of meditative
equipoise, holding a skull cup filled with nectar in which there is a vase
filled with the nectar of immortality.

In the crook of the left elbow Guru Rinpoche cradles a trident which is a veiled
reference to feminine principle, the aspect of Vajra Yogini. Various consorts
such as Yeshe Tsogyal and Mandarava are associated with Guru Rinpoche. Given
that they were all essentially of the same nature of Vajra Yogini, this then is
the significance of the trident in the crook of the left elbow.

When we find the reference of yab and yum (masculine/feminine consort or
father/mother consort) applied to deities, we shouldn't make the obvious mistake
of assuming that this has to do with male/female in the physical sense. The
deities are not male and female beings, but masculine and feminine energies. The
bipolar imagery of the masculine and feminine illustrates the primordial union
of appearance (or form) and emptiness. One of the descriptions of this imagery
is that the masculine aspect, the yab aspect, refers to phenomenal appearance
while the yum, the feminine aspect, is the expression of emptiness. So the way
in which the deities manifest is simply a direct expression of the fundamental
nature of reality as it is.

The dakini Yeshe Tsogyal is famous for having been the Tibetan consort of Guru
Rinpoche, but we should remember that her primary function as his consort was to
gather and codify his teachings. Her role is directly analogous to that which
the student of the Buddha, Ananda, performed after the passing of the Buddha -
to gather together the Buddha's teachings so that they could handed on to future
generations. This was exactly the function of Yeshe Tsogyal - to uphold and
codify and collect and gather the teachings of Guru Rinpoche. While the dakini
Yeshe Tsogyal did appear in human form as a woman in Tibet, her ultimate essence
was that of a dakini of timeless awareness. So there is no contradiction in her
manifesting that essence as a human woman or as a trident held in the crook of
the left elbow of Guru Rinpoche.

In addition, you meditate that the form of Guru Rinpoche above your head is
seated in the full vajra posture with the left leg on the right thigh and the
right leg on the left thigh. Meditate that the form is radiating brilliant rays
of light in all directions.

The inexhaustable adornment of Guru Rinpoche's form is the essence of the sangha
principle; that of his speech, the dharma principle; that of his mind, the
principle of buddha as a source of refuge. The qualities of Guru Rinpoche embody
the chosen deity principle of Vajrayana; his activity, that of the dakinis and
dharmapalas (the dharma protectors.) In brief, what appears initially to be
simply the form of Guru Rinpoche is understood on a more ultimate level to be
the very essence of all buddhas, yidams, dakas and dakinis, dharma protectors
and the entire vast array of the three jewels and the three roots all subsumed
within a single manifestation.

Regardless of the particular deity that you are meditating upon in your own
individual practice and regardless of the specific form that you are
visualizing, it is important that you visualize that form to be pure appearance
without any substantial or corporeal nature. You are not visualizing the deity
as a body of flesh and blood, but rather as a form that is completely
insubstantial - a form that is nothing but pure appearance without any solidity
or any substantiality. For example, when you are practicing ka-gye (the eight
commands on sadhana practice), if you are meditating on Vajrakilaya or Chemchog
or any of the major herukas of this cycle, the visualization in the more
extensive practices involves the basic visualization of your form as the form of
the deity with whole mandalas of deities appearing at points in your body
associated with the concentration of subtle energy. So you are not visualizing a
form that has a skeletal structure, a circulatory system, a digestive system or
musculature. None of these ordinary physical elements enter into the picture at
all.

In our time and place Guru Rinpoche is the source for the lineages that we
receive. Even though the actual presence of Guru Rinpoche is not perceptable to
us directly, still we connect with that source through the unbroken lineage that
has been handed down from generation to generation. When we rely upon the lama
as the very embodiment of Guru Rinpoche and inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, we
connect directly with that unbroken source that has come down to us
historically.

In the pinnacle pure realm of Akanishta, Guru Rinpoche received transmission
from the dakini known as Leche Wangmo, the powerful goddess of activity. The
process in which he received this transmission was of her transforming him into
a seed syllable hung which she swallowed. As the hung syllable passed through
the chakras of her body, he received the four stages of empowerment: the vase,
the body, the wisdom awareness and the fourth empowerment. She expelled him
through her secret organ and he reassumed his form. This is obviously not an
ordinary process of her swallowing something, digesting and excreting it.
This particular process finds its expression as well in the many abishekas or
empowerment ceremonies that are performed by vajra masters. These include
similar visualizations in which the student is transformed into a syllable,
ingested by the vajra master, transformed and brought forth into the world again
as the deity. These are processes whereby the vajra master, in transmitting the
blessing to the student, purifies the student's mind stream of the effect of
harmful actions and of obscurations and transmits the spiritual power of the
empowerment.

Once the student has been generated as the deity by the vajra master, the
student maintains identity with the chosen deity for the duration of the
empowerment ceremony. The student recognizes his or her essence to be the
essence of that deity manifesting in that particular form. The student's
conception of him or herself as the deity is the samayasattva, the commitment
aspect, which the vajra master imbues with the jnanasattva, the aspect of
timeless awareness. The vajra master then proceeds to use the various substances
or articles such as the vase and forth as the symbols that transmit ultimate
blessing of the various levels of empowerment. It is on that basis that the true
transmission of spiritual power and energy can take place.

This is simply an expression of a much larger principle. Whether we are involved
in activities of the dharma or whether we are involved in ordinary work, it is
our own mind that is the most important factor - how our mind is viewing the
situation, how our mind is relating to the circumstances. Both the lama and the
student have a responsibility here: in order for true transmission to take
place, both the mind of the lama and the mind of the student conceive the
situation in the appropriate manner. Then and only then can there really be the
authentic transmission of blessings in an empowerment.

Returning to the actual meditation of guru yoga: Having visualized the form of
Guru Rinpoche as the union of all buddhas and all sources of refuge above the
crown of your head, you meditate that the form is marked at the forehead with a
white om syllable, at the throat with a red ah syllable, at the heart center
with a dark blue hung syllable and at the navel center with a green hri
syllable. In addition you meditate that on the palms and soles of Guru
Rinpoche's form are the four syllables ha ri ni sa. Rays of light shining from
these syllables in all directions invoke the blessings of all sources of refuge
which return and are absorbed into his form above the crown of your head. With
one-pointed focus you begin the actual practice of guru yoga which involves
supplication to the lama and recitation of the vajra guru mantra, the mantra of
Guru Rinpoche.

Following the main body of the practice, you meditate first that from the white
om syllable in the forehead center of Guru Rinpoche there comes a white ray of
light, like a shooting star, that enters into your own forehead and completely
fills your body. The white light purifies you on the physical level of the
effects of obscurations and harmful actions, imbuing your form with the
blessings of enlightened form. By a similar process you meditate that from the
throat center of Guru Rinpoche, from the red ahsyllable, there comes a red ray
of light that enters your own throat center purifying your speech. From the
heart center of Guru Rinpoche, from the dark blue hung syllable, there comes a
thread or filament of light like a wafting of incense smoke that is absorbed
into your own heart center purifying your mind. And finally, you meditate that
from all of the centers of Guru Rinpoche's form come rainbow rays of light of
five colors, white, red, yellow, green and blue, all of which are absorbed into
your own chakras purifying the last traces of obscuration and conferring the
fourth level of empowerment. In this way you receive the four levels of
empowerment, the vase, secret, wisdom awareness and the fourth empowerment. This
establishes the potential for your own realization respectively, of nirmanakaya,
sambhogakaya, dharmakaya and svabhavikakaya, the totality of the three kayas.

When you come to actually finish the session, you meditate that the form of Guru
Rinpoche above the crown of your head dissolves into light. This light is
absorbed into you and at that point you enter into the formless completion stage
of the practice. You meditate that Guru Rinpoche's enlightened form, speech and
mind are in no way separate from your own body, speech and mind. There is
complete non-dual union. You meditate in a formless state of mind, without any
frame of reference, without any conceptual elaboration, simply allowing your
mind to rest in that state of non-dual union for as long as possible. Following
that, you conclude with the prayers of dedication and aspiration.

There are a number of other specific ways in which the visualization of guru
yoga practice are presented according to specific lineages, specific traditions
and even specific situations. But the general principles that are described in
this presentation hold true in all cases: you visualize the lama above the crown
of your head. In this particular case you envision the form of Guru Rinpoche as
the form that embodies all sources of refuge. In others systems of practice you
may be instructed to visualize an actual crowd of the sources of refuge, like a
large assembly, above the crown of your head. Or you may be instructed to
visualize a lineage, with each figure of the lineage above the other, extending
vertically up above the crown of your head. There are different details to the
specific visualizations depending upon the system you are studying, but you
should understand that despite the seeming differences in the details, the
essential nature of the practice is the same in each case.

As I said before, the most important qualities to ensure the success of the
practice in the students' mind are faith, devotion, trust and pure view. If a
student is truly bent upon benefiting from his or her practice and his or her
association with the dharma, those qualities are indispensable.